


Check the Electrocardiogram

by stellarparallax



Series: 300 Followers Celebration Fics [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Everyone is a doctor except Keith, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pining Lotor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 05:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13357641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarparallax/pseuds/stellarparallax
Summary: Lotor is the Head of Diagnostic Medicine and Shiro is a fresh medical school graduate. That's it, really.





	Check the Electrocardiogram

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! To coincide with me almost reaching 300 followers on tumblr, I ran a poll asking which rarepair my followers would like me to write for. I'm planning to write for all of the pairings, but the poll was to see which ones got published first. Plance, Keitor, Katt and Hance are done so it's time for Shotor! The next two will be Heith and Lotura, but it'll be a while before I get to those.

“Lotor, you need to take a look at this. The EKG shows—”

“Tell me, Ezor, what is the point of me hiring you if I need to read all these tedious reports myself?” Lotor sighed as he leaned back into his office chair.

“No, you don’t understand. When you said that—”

“Who said?”

“You said.”

“Then would I not know it myself?”

“Ah… yes…”

“Tell me when you find something actually interesting,” he waved dismissively at her.

He sat up slightly to turn his chair around, but saw someone who caught his attention. He stood up suddenly, leaning himself forward towards the person of interest.

“Ezor, wait.”

She stopped and turned. Her fingers drummed on her clipboard as she waited impatiently for him to continue.

“Who is that right outside my office? He is stunning.”

“Him?” She said, tilting her head towards the glass wall between herself and the man, “That’s Dr Shirogane. He’s the fresh medical school graduate that applied to be part of your team. He’s here for an interview.”

“Why do I need a new member, again?”

“Because Coran thinks that your bedside manner is awful… And in case you’re not around and our male patients are shy. Either way, you need to hire a new male doctor. Do the interview.”

“When?”

She glanced at her watch, “Well, five minutes ago.”

“And you notify me now?”

“Actually, I emailed you at least ten days ago.”

Lotor’s eyes narrowed. He sat back down in his chair and turned to his computer. He clicked around until he found his inbox and found Ezor’s notice buried in the e-mails from pharmaceutical salespeople and sponsors offering funding for his medical research.

“Well, I’ll be damned…” he muttered, “Let him in on your way out, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

Lotor stood up and pulled at his jacket, pressing down any crease he could find. He ran his fingers through his long, silver hair, parting it in the back so it fell evenly down the front of both of his shoulders. He took a large sip from his glass of water then set it back down on his desk. By the time he was ready, Dr Shirogane was already standing in front of him.

“Hi,” the man said hesitantly.

“Please, don’t be shy. My name is Dr Lotor, but you can call me Lotor. Some people around here think that I’m quite prissy, but I actually don’t like formalities. Is that alright with you?”

“I… Yes, that’s okay. My name’s Takashi but most of my friends call me Shiro.”

Lotor stuck out his right hand, and Shiro paused before finally taking it.

“Prosthetic, huh. What’s your story?”

“I got a really bad infection from a cut and it turned into gangrene.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Please, don’t be. It’s been that way for years. It’s normal to me now.”

“I see.”

Lotor gestured towards the chair in front of him, prompting Shiro to sit. Lotor then took his own seat behind his desk. 

“Tell me, what led to your interest in diagnostic medicine?”

“Well, I wanted to be a surgeon but…” his voice trailed off dramatically as he looked down at his right arm, a smirk forming on his face, “I’m kidding. I was already planning on specialising before I lost my arm. I like puzzles and I like learning new things every day. Diagnostic medicine would give me the opportunity to explore that.”

“Puzzles, “Lotor bit his lip, “Man after my own heart.”

“So, do I get the job?”

“Welcome to the team, Shiro,” Lotor stood back up, offering his hand again, “I have a very good feeling about this.”

 

* * *

 

“The colon biopsy shows that… Lotor, are you even listening to me?” 

“What?” Lotor blinked, “Sorry, Acxa, I had something on my mind.”

“Something or  _ someone _ ?” 

She glanced at Shiro on the other side of the glass wall who was bending over to pick up a pen he dropped. She raised an eyebrow at Lotor.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re referring to!” Lotor huffed, his purple cheeks turning pink.

“Oh my God, you like him.”

“I do not. I respect him a healthy amount, as I do any other member of my team.”

“Oh, you ogle Ezor too?”

“No?” he gasped defensively.

“Then no, you don’t _ just _ respect him. Is it the cute ass or the big muscles?”

“The eyes. They twinkle,” he snarked.

“I never thought I’d live long enough to find out that you’re actually the sappiest person I’ve ever met..”

“I don’t know what it is about him that makes my heart pound. He’s not afraid to make his opinion known. He’s not afraid to stand up to me. He’s really nice too. Did I tell you he bought me chocolate last week?”

“Can we get back to discussing the case?”

“Yes, of course.”

Acxa flipped to another page of the file in her hands and she handed it to Lotor to look at. He took the file and ran his fingers down the page as if it were braille. When he got to the bottom of the page, he looked up at Acxa. He furrowed his brows.

“But… but that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’ve sent it to the head of the oncology department and they haven’t been able to figure it out either.” 

“Has Shiro seen it?”

“No?”

“Call the rest of the team to get their asses to the room next door right now. We’ll do a differential diagnosis.”

Acxa nodded, took the file back and stood up. She left Lotor’s office and walked over to the adjacent room to page Ezor and Allura. 

Lotor didn’t see her leave. Just like clockwork, as soon as no one else was demanding his attention, he averted his gaze immediately to Shiro. Shiro caught him and waved back with a smile on his face so sincere that Lotor could have sworn he heard angels sing. 

 

* * *

 

The hospital cafeteria was packed with staff from all vocations and departments. Lotor generally detested cafeteria food, but he had overslept that morning and therefore didn’t have enough time to prepare his own lunch. He groaned as Acxa pulled him along to make sure that he didn’t opt to starve in his office. Through the thick crowd, spotted Shiro and he was about to call out to him to join them when he realised that Shiro wasn’t alone. 

Shiro was standing in line with a shorter man in an EMT uniform with dark, black hair that was tied back into a short ponytail. Shiro was hugging him from behind, he chest pressed firmly against the other man’s shoulder blades. Lotor felt his insides twist into a knot.

“I’m going to go,” he mumbled to Acxa.

“What? Why? You haven’t even gotten your food.”

“I’m not hungry anymore, okay?”

“You’re lying. You haven’t eaten anything since last night and you know it.”

“Acxa, I just don’t want to be here.”

“Why? You make it sound like--” she stopped as soon as she saw what Lotor had seen.

Lotor sighed.

“Why don’t you tell me what you want and I’ll send it to your office?”

“I’d really like that. Thank you.”

Lotor pushed his way through the crowd, trying his best to get past Shiro without him noticing. He almost managed until he accidentally stepped on someone’s foot.

“Oww, watch where you’re going!”

“Excuse me, I believe that you were behind me. I can’t be expected to have eyes on the back of my head!” Lotor retorted.

“The least you could do is apologise.”

“Why? I did nothing wrong!”

“Lotor?”

Lotor froze as soon as he heard Shiro call his name. He gritted his teeth.

‘Fine, I’m sorry.”

He left the cafeteria to return to his office without even once turning to acknowledge Shiro. He just knew in his gut that he had to remove himself from the situation as soon as possible, even at the expense of his pride.

 

* * *

 

Shiro burst into Lotor’s office unannounced. He walked in large purposeful strides towards Lotor and placed a cupcake on his desk. Lotor looked at the cupcake, then at him with an eyebrow raised.

“You seem like you needed some cheering up. I didn’t really see what happened back in the cafeteria but I had the feeling that you were upset by it.”

Lotor nodded and picked up the cupcake. He peeled away part of the paper cup and took a tiny bite out of the top of the cake and part of the icing. He made a satisfied hum, then set the remaining cupcake back on his desk. 

“Thank you, Dr Shirogane.”

“Did I… do something to offend you?”

“Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“Well, when I first met you you said that you didn’t like formalities… and you called me Dr Shirogane. I’ve told you to call me Shiro.” 

“Shiro…”

“Is it because I messed up the ultrasound yesterday? I won’t do it again.”

“Shiro, I… I really don’t feel comfortable discussing this with you,” Lotor’s throat tightened.

“Is it because I argued with you over the way you talked to the mother whose daughter was dying of congenital heart disease?”

“No, that’s actually why I hired you. I know that I don’t have the best bedside manner so I need someone around to keep me in check.”

“Then what is it?” Frustration was rising in Shiro’s voice.

“Please… please leave.”

“They… they told me you’d be hard to work with. I didn’t want to believe it because I went for one of your lectures and I really admired you. I thought… I thought we were getting along.”

“You’ve seen how I treat Ezor and Allura. Why did you expect me to treat you any differently?”

Shiro’s eyes widened. He looked like an injured puppy that had just been kicked. 

“I’m sorry,” Lotor whispered as he watched Shiro leave.

 

* * *

 

There was a new year’s party in the lounge that the hospital staff took between checking up on their patients. Some of them decided to stay in the wards the entire time so that the others could spend more time at the party. Lotor chose to do neither. He had planned to take some of the refreshments from the party and go back to his office to enjoy them alone. Before he managed to do that, he spotted the EMT that he had seen Shiro with and chose to go straight to his office instead. 

His first encounter in the cafeteria was far from the last time he saw the two of them together. Every now and then, he saw them eating lunch or taking walks around the hospital grounds. Once, he even saw them holding hands. It was bad enough that he had an unbearably huge crush on Shiro. He didn’t need anymore reminders that Shiro was already in a happy relationship. 

“Happy new year,” Acxa declared flatly while waving her hands around. 

“There’s nothing to be happy about. It’s another year and I’m still painfully alone,” Lotor lamented.

“Honestly, why haven’t you asked Shiro out?”

“He has a boyfriend, Acxa.”

“He does? Who?”

“‘Some EMT with a ponytail, You saw him in the cafeteria the other day.”

“I didn’t see who it was. Wait, EMT with a ponytail… you mean Keith?”

“Is that his name?”

“It has to be. He’s the only male EMT with a ponytail.”

“Awesome.”

“Also, they’re roommates.”

“I think they call it ‘cohabitation’ once you’re in a relationship.”

“Well, you’re not wrong, except they aren’t in a relationship.”

“They’re not?”

“Nope,” Shiro answered.

Lotor hadn’t noticed that while he was talking to Acxa, Shiro had walked into his office.

“I’ll… leave the two of you to discuss things,” Acxa said quickly as she sidestepped Shiro and left the office.

Lotor looked at Shiro incredulously. Somehow, in the dim light, he looked more beautiful that he’d been before. Shiro approached him slowly. 

“I don’t get to see Keith a lot because of his terrible hours so when I do get to see him, I tend to get… handsy.”

“I see.”

“Is that something you’d be okay with?”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that? He’s your roommate, not mine.”

“No, I mean, would you be okay with me being close to my best friend if you and I dated?”

“What?”

“I like you… I was under the impression that you knew. I thought that that was why you started avoiding me.”

Lotor sighed. He switched on his computer and started typing frantically. Finally, he hit one more button, then his printer starter whirring up. He took the paper from the printer and signed it. He took one more look at it and gave it to Shiro.

“What is this?”

“A recommendation letter.”

“For…?”

“Look for another job. I don’t care if it’s in another department or another hospital.”

“Wait, what?”

“I can’t date you if we work together, silly.”

Realisation dawned on Shiro and he chuckled. He stood up and walked around Lotor’s desk. He reached out for Lotor’s face with his right hand then pulled back.

“It’s okay,” Lotor whispered, pulling Shiro’s right hand to his own face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading till the end! I would really appreciate it if you left kudos and comments!
> 
> You can yell at me @stellar-parallax on tumblr!


End file.
